


Not Dungeons and Dragons

by wykedpanda



Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-03 16:39:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8721139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wykedpanda/pseuds/wykedpanda
Summary: Taekwoon might have made a small, major mistake.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [enpleurs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/enpleurs/gifts).



> Ah, I really hope you enjoy this in even the slightest! I'm afraid I can't do high fantasy justice so please accept my meager gift. Merry Christmas!! And a quick thank you to the mods for another great year!

~~*~~

In his life, Taekwoon has made exactly ten mistakes. One was when he accidentally burned off his nanny’s braid, another when he accidentally turned his brother’s sixteenth birthday celebration into an impromptu bonfire. And then there was that time he not so accidentally set an entire village on fire. To be fair, they deserved it; no one bullies his brothers and gets away with it.

Maybe a majority of his mistakes have involved fire, but Taekwoon had always prided himself on the low count. Jaehwan’s destroyed over a dozen villages now, Hongbin once set fire to his fiance, and don’t even get him started on Wonshik- so Taekwoon’s definitely doing better than his brothers. But now, as he stares at a certain flat-chested, dazed, definitely _not_ a princess he has kidnapped in his cave, he thinks this might be his biggest blunder yet. 

At least he hasn’t set him on fire. Yet.

~~*~~

Life is a little different when you’re born a prince. There are certain expectations, like massive castles, vast lands to control, and power beyond measure. Luckily for Taekwoon, it only took him a few hundred years to acquire these so he’s doing pretty well. But things are a little more complicated than just being your average royal since he’s also-

“A dragon.” Taekwoon’s hostage tilts his head. “You’re a dragon, right?”

“Prince.” Taekwoon sniffs. “ _The_ dragon prince.”

“Ah! The yellow one that pillaged the Northern Shire?”

“No, that’s my brother Hongbin.”

“Oh, then the green one that ate all of the livestock at the third moon harvest?”

“Other brother. Sanghyuk.”

“What about the red one that eats sorcerers?” The hostage smiles a little. “I like that one. It’s pretty.”

Taekwoon sniffs. “Hakyeon. My brother.”

“...How many brothers do you have?”

Taekwoon squints at the hostage. He looks a bit too comfortable with the heavy chains wrapped around him, appearing almost serene in the makeshift prison pit Taekwoon had constructed earlier. Well, the pit’s more of a shallow hole with hay on the floor but it’s still a prison. Kind of. 

“Do you understand what’s happening here?” Taekwoon motions at the shackles around the hostage’s wrists. “You are my prisoner.”

“Yeah, I kind of got that when you swooped into my sister’s wedding and dragged me away.” The hostage thinks before letting out an excited laugh. “Oh, I remember! You’re a black dragon!”

Taekwoon resists the urge to slam his head against the cave wall. It wouldn’t be very princely of him. Also, it would probably hurt and pain isn’t a very dragon-ly thing to express. Giving a resigned sigh, Taekwoon turns to leave. Maybe setting the hostage on fire isn’t such a bad idea. 

“I’m Yixing, by the way.” The hostage offers a wave with his chained arms. “Second prince of the Unicorn Kingdom.”

Taekwoon slams his head against the wall. Dragon or not, it hurts like hell.

~~*~~

“What’s that smell?”

Taekwoon grunts when Hakyeon swoops down next to him and lands gracefully on the ledge at the entrance of his cave. His brother’s maroon scales sparkle in the setting sun, and there’s a small burst of red dust before he transforms into a human. Taekwoon eyes the thick gold band around Hakyeon’s neck; it looks heavy, definitely a symbol of royalty, and it’s new. 

“Did Father give that to you?” 

Hakyeon glances down at his necklace and smiles. “A reward for the defeating the wizards in the Western Border. They were starving out their people so we went in and-”

“Killed them all,” Taekwoon flatly finishes.

“No. We _saved_ the people,” Hakyeon chides. “Father asked you to come too, you know. No one’s making you sulk out here in your gloomy cave.”

“My cave is not gloomy and I’m not sulking. I just like to be by myself.”

“Angst at its finest.” Hakyeon rolls his eyes before sniffing the air again. “What’s that smell? It’s like an animal, maybe unicorn?”

Taekwoon resists the urge to glance back in his cave. Instead, he shrugs and shoves Hakyeon. “No. Maybe you still have the stench of war on you.”

“That’s very rich coming from the guy who makes a living out of pillaging villages. You’re on a one dragon crusade for something that doesn’t even matter anymore.”

“It matters.” There’s a growl in Taekwoon’s words, and he bites back the urge to shift into his dragon form. “It matters to me.”

“And that’s why I worry. I feel like you’re the only one stuck in the past, Taekwoon.” Hakyeon gets up and stretches. “You need to get married or something. Find something else to distract you.” He wrinkles his nose. “Like get rid of that smell. Seriously, what is in that cave of yours?”

Taekwoon huffs. “Just go away.”

Hakyeon obliges, shifting into his dragon form before swooping off the ledge. He lets out a long roar as he disappears into the forest below. Taekwoon snorts. What a show-off.

“Oh, he’s very pretty.” 

Taekwoon jumps when Yixing peers out of the cave. “How did you get out of the pit?!”

“Oh.” Yixing blinks for a few moments. “I just rolled out? It wasn’t too deep, and I was a bit hungry but you wouldn’t come back so I figured I should come find you.”

Still shackled, Yixing hops over to Taekwoon and looks carefully over the cliff. He sways dangerously at the edge and Taekwoon yanks him back.

“My, that is far down,” Yixing says. “This is a great spot to look gloomily out over the world.”

“It’s not gloomy.” Taekwoon grits his teeth. His head still hurts from slamming it against the wall earlier, and now with Hakyeon’s impromptu visit and the annoying development with his hostage, he’s beginning to feel a bad headache come on. 

“It’s swollen.” Yixing stares at his forehead, leaning uncomfortably close to Taekwoon. “Maybe a concussion, judging by how hard you hit it earlier, but dragon bones are known to be very strong so I think you’ll be alright.”

Taekwoon sighs and rubs his head. “Don’t the members of the Royal Unicorn family have healing powers?”

“Ah, well yes and no.” Yixing gives an awkward laugh. “My family can do some amazing things, like turn poison into water, heal broken bodies in just a few short moments. My older brother can even revive dying animals, no matter how close to death. They all have immense grace and control with their powers.” 

There’s a pause. Taekwoon watches Yixing toy with his chains. “And you?”

“I am not quite so fortunate.” Yixing gives a slow smile. “I must have missed out on a few healing classes. So I’m afraid I can’t help you with that headache.”

Taekwoon thinks it’s unfair how tilted and weak Yixing’s smile is. Hostages shouldn’t look so sad, so defeated, by themselves. As the kidnapper, that’s Taekwoon’s job. “If I take off your chains, you’ll stay here until I find us some food, right?”

Yixing stares at him before grinning. His smile reaches his eyes this time, definitely brighter, and there’s a small dimple on his cheek. “Well, I don’t really have anywhere else to go, do I? I’m _your_ hostage.”

~~*~~

Yixing looks surprised when Taekwoon comes back with a basket of food. He even lets out a pleased sigh when Taekwoon lays out a spread of freshly baked bread, a variety of fruits, and a roasted rabbit.

“Did you think I was going to go and bring back a dead deer or something?” Taekwoon asks, handing him a silk napkin. 

“Well, maybe a bear. And then you were going to skin it in this cave.” Yixing laughs at Taekwoon’s affronted expression. 

“I’m still a prince, not a barbarian.”

Yixing chews on a pear. “You live in a cave in the middle of the forest. There’s nothing but a hay pit and some rugs in here.”

“That’s my aesthetic. I’m a minimalist.”

“A grumpy minimalist.” Yixing doesn’t flinch at Taekwoon’s growl, opting to hand him a piece of the rabbit instead. “Here, you’ll be less moody if you eat.”

Taekwoon obediently chews on the meat. “I’m not grumpy.”

Yixing hums. “Sure. That’s why you kidnapped me, right?”

“That was a… mistake.” Embarrassed, Taekwoon stuffs his face with more bread. “A small blimp in my plan.”

“Well, whatever it was, I’m glad it happened.” Yixing beams widely. “Being kidnapped isn’t so bad. I’m having fun with you, Taekwoon.”

~~*~~

Jaehwan is the next to stop by, only he’s much less graceful than Hakyeon. He nearly demolishes the cave’s opening as his huge wings run into them. Taekwoon hopes Yixing is a deep sleeper because the resulting crash was ridiculously loud.

“So Hakyeon tells me your place stinks,” Jaehwan begins. He brushes dust off his clothes and joins Taekwoon at the cliff’s edge. Taking a deep breath, he wrinkles his nose. “Is that… a bear?”

“No.” Taekwoon whacks him across the head. “Mind your own business.”

“Aw come on, hyung. Hakyeon told me to visit you because you’re lonely out here by yourself.”

Taekwoon clenches his fist. Stupid Hakyeon, always meddling in his business. “I’m not lonely and I don’t need you. I’m busy with my own things, alright?”

“Like what? Sulking by yourself?”

“Why does everyone think I’m sulking??”

“Because of your face,” Jaehwan says matter-of-factly.

Taekwoon smacks him again. “I have my own plans.”

“And how are they going?”

Taekwoon grimaces. “Fine. Just fine.”

So maybe not fine. His original plan had been to kidnap the youngest princess of the Unicorn Kingdom but now he’s stuck with an overly friendly, not as important, prince instead so there’s a slight hiccup in his plans. But it’s okay. It could be worse.

“Okay, I definitely smell it.” Jaehwan sniffs the air. “It’s like… a unic-”

“Go back home.” Taekwoon nudges Jaehwan away from the cave entrance. “You’re late for curfew anyways.”

“Oh, I get it.” Jaehwan wiggles his eyebrows. “You brought back a girl, right?” He screeches with laughter when Taekwoon’s face turns bright red. 

It takes everything in Taekwoon not to strangle Jaehwan. Even as his younger brother flies away, Taekwoon considers spitting a fireball at him. Jaehwan would deserves it, sooner or later.

Walking back inside the cave, he glances over at where Yixing is sleeping next to the fire. Taekwoon sighs. This definitely wasn’t part of the plan. Right now, the Unicorn princess should be begging for her life and an army should arrive at any moment to save her. Instead, Yixing is curled up, _without_ shackles, in Taekwoon’s favourite blanket, looking like the most peaceful person in the world. 

“This isn’t how it’s supposed to go.” Taekwoon groans. 

“Taekwoon?” Yixing mumbles, stirring from sleep. He motions to him, holding out part of the blanket. “It’s cold. We can share.”

Taekwoon stares at him for a moment, watching the firelight flicker across his face, and then- what the hell, his plans are already ruined for today anyways- he crawls under the blanket with Yixing. He can think of better kidnapping plans in the morning.

~~*~~

After spending a week with Yixing, Taekwoon has learned a few things. One, Yixing isn’t good at sharing blankets.

“Ah, did I do that?” Yixing asks in the morning, blankets curled around him as Taekwoon huddles next to the fire. Dragon or not, the winter nights are cold and it’s almost humiliating when his teeth chatter throughout the night.

Two, Yixing daydreams. A lot.

“What if the sun is just the moon awake?” he says one night. “And when you fly, can you fly above the rain clouds? How high have you flown? I once knew a unicorn that could fly but he was the last of his kind. Did you know of unicorns that could fly, Taekwoon?”

But, Taekwoon just might think Yixing and his wide, wondering eyes are a bit endearing so he lets it go. 

Three, Yixing loves plants. Trees, shrubs, flowers- he loves them all and he spends long hours walking through the forest, pointing out each and every one they pass by. “Look how strong this elm tree is,” Yixing says, patting its bark. “It symbolizes strength, and the goddess Artemis herself used to practice her archery on them.” 

“The violet,” he says as they take lunch next to a creek, “can symbolize love and affection.” He twists some into a crown and places it on Taekwoon’s head. “And nobility.”

Taekwoon flushes a bit, and Yixing laughs. “What’s your favourite flower, Taekwoon?”

“I don’t know,” he mumbles. He looks around them, eyes stopping on a patch of crushed lilies. A passing animal must have stomped over them, and Taekwoon stares at the wilted flowers for a bit longer. They’re so white and pure, even in their broken state.

“Do you like lilies?” Yixing asks.

Taekwoon glances away. “They’re alright.” He watches as Yixing walks over to the dying flowers, eyes widening when Yixing waves his hand over them and they spring back to life.

“You do have healing powers,” Taekwoon says. 

“Only for plants.” Yixing ruefully smiles, handing him a lily. “Not very useful, I’m afraid.”

Taekwoon lets his fingers linger, just for a moment, against Yixing’s hand as he takes the flower. “You’re very useful.” Seeing Yixing’s surprised expression, Taekwoon clears his throat and quickly grabs the flower. “A useful prisoner, I mean.”

~~*~~

“Oh wow.” Hongbin almost looks offended as he takes in the blooming flower garden outside Taekwoon’s cave. “Who are you and what have you done with my grouchy brother?”

Taekwoon kicks him as he waters some of the lilies. “Shut up.”

“Hakyeon hyung did say you were acting a little weird lately, but hell, this is just scary.” Hongbin narrows his eyes. “Did you kidnap a gardener or something?”

Taekwoon sputters and tosses the water pail at him. He relishes Hongbin’s shriek as he attempts to get away. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have a fiance to take care of?”

“We’re doing just great, thank you.” Hongbin sniffs. “I just wanted to come by and make sure you’re still coming to the wedding. Father’s making outfits for all of us.”

Taekwoon grunts. “I’ll be there.”

“Good!” Hongbin plucks a rose. “Can I take this back for Woori? She’d love it.”

“Whatever,” Taekwoon shrugs. 

“Oh come on, hyung. You’re still not upset about last time, are you? She said she was sorry.”

“It’s not her fault. Don’t worry about it.” Taekwoon waves him away. “Get back to her. Don’t keep her waiting.”

Hongbin sighs. “See you soon. Remember, you promised you’d come to my wedding.”

Taekwoon grunts again, watching the flowers flutter from the wind as Hongbin flies away. 

“Hongbin has such beautiful scales. They look like gold,” Yixing says. He steps out from behind a bush, brushing dirt off his pants. “And he’s getting married- how nice!”

“Yeah. It’s easy when you’re that pretty,” Taekwoon replies. He reaches for a rose, clenching it in his fist before scorching it black.

Yixing frowns. “You’re beautiful as well, Taekwoon.”

Taekwoon snorts. “I think you’ve forgotten from when I kidnapped you. Remember that black thing that came down and scared everyone? That was me.”

He hates his black colour. It’s so dark, so terrifying. He thinks back to when an infant Sanghyuk had cried at his transformation, when his tutors and his nannies had all fled at the sight of his pitch-black scales. He remembers when Hongbin’s fiance had cowered in fear- “I’m so sorry, Taekwoon. You were just so frightening… it caught me off guard, you know?”- when even creatures as majestic as they were could be just as scary with a simple colour. 

“But even black is very important,” Yixing says. “Everything is a balance, and your colour helps bind your family together. All dragons can’t be such bright colours. That’d just be obnoxious.”

Taekwoon rolls his eyes. “Do you know how cheesy you sound right now?”

Yixing smiles. “Black goes with everything,” he insists. And he brings the rose Taekwoon had scorched in anger back to life. Taekwoon carefully cradles it in his hands, resisting the urge to crush it. 

The next morning, he finds all the roses in the garden have been painted black. Taekwoon just smiles, and he doesn’t say a word about the stray black spots that smudge Yixing’s beaming face.

~~*~~

Hakyeon visits within a few days, a bit too soon in Taekwoon’s opinion, but thankfully Yixing is out looking for more plants so Taekwoon didn’t have to worry about him being found out. At least, that’s what he’d thought.

“So when are you going to let him go?” Hakyeon asks.

Taekwoon chokes. “W-what?”

“I’m not an idiot, Taekwoon. Everyone knows you’ve been keeping a unicorn in your cave.” Hakyeon squints. “Just please don’t tell me it’s the unicorn prince that was kidnapped a month ago. Please don’t tell me you went that far.”

When Taekwoon refuses to respond, much less meet his eyes, Hakyeon lets out a long groan. “Are you serious, Taekwoon?”

“It was an accident!” Taekwoon insists. “I was supposed to kidnap the princess but there was all this confusion and I might have grabbed the wrong-”

“It doesn’t matter!” Taekwoon bites his lip at Hakyeon’s yell. “What did you intend to do with her anyways? Eat her?”

“No! I was just going to, you know, maybe get an army to come around and then-”

“You wanted her fiance to come and fight you,” Hakyeon finishes. “That’s why you did this whole thing. You wanted to kill him.”

“Maybe not _kill_ him,” Taekwoon mutters. “I would’ve been okay with scorched hair, maybe a hand or two gone…”

“You need to stop this.” Hakyeon grabs his arm. “You need to let this senseless anger go because it’s only going to end up hurting you more.”

Taekwoon glares at him, yanking his arm away. “What about what they did to our family? To our home?” He looks at the scars that line Hakyeon’s neck. “What about what they did to you?”

“I’ve let it go.” Hakyeon gets up to fly away. “You need to let that unicorn go. You can’t keep him here forever.”

“What did he mean?” Taekwoon flinches when Yixing appears, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Were you trying to kidnap my sister?”

Taekwoon sighs. “Yes.”

“For what? What has she ever done to you?”

“It’s not your sister.” Taekwoon lets out an exasperated groan. “It was never about you or your sister or any unicorns. I just wanted her fiance.”

“But… why?”

“Because they deserve it! They deserve to burn, every last one of them, for everything they’ve done to my family.” Taekwoon thinks back to the bloodshed and the terror, to the wounds that will scar Hakyeon forever, to Sanghyuk’s frightened cries and the tears flowing down Wonshik’s face as their home burned before their eyes- to their peaceful lives being ravaged. “That kingdom had destroyed our lives. I will do the same.”

“And then what?” Yixing asks. “After you’ve destroyed them all, then will you be satisfied?”

“Yes. Maybe. I don’t know, but I need to do this. Until then, just letting it go won’t be enough.”

Yixing reaches out and barely touches his trembling hand. “Nothing will be enough?”

Taekwoon clenches his fist, yanking it away. “You can’t possibly understand.”

“You know I can’t let you take my baby sister.” Yixing touches Taekwoon’s face and gives him a slow, tilted smile- just like the one when they first met. “You understand that better than anyone else.”

Taekwoon closes his eyes. “Go back, Yixing. You were never meant to be here. This was a mistake.”

~~*~~

“Oh, enjoying a little morning flight?” Hakyeon asks, flying up next to him. His wings nudge against Taekwoon, who tries his hardest not to knock Hakyeon out of the air.

“I’m busy, leave me alone.”

“You better not be kidnapping anyone again,” Hakyeon chides. “Father doesn’t like that.”

“Father also doesn’t like tattletales,” Taekwoon shoots back. 

Hakyeon whines. “Seriously, do I need to stop you? I don’t want you to burn up another wedding.”

“I know what I’m doing, okay?” Taekwoon sees the castle approach and slowly begins his descent. “Just trust me.”

“I always do,” Hakyeon laughs, before turning back. 

Taekwoon lets his wings carry him down to the castle. He can hear the wedding bells as he grows closer, sees the bright decorations and the royal crest as he approaches the ceremony hall. A warning bell tolls as he lands in the courtyard, a sea of people staring at him as he folds his wings back. As expected, they all look terrified, the bride and groom cowering in fear as he towers over them. But then, in the front, a single, over-friendly, face beams at him.

“I came to kidnap you,” Taekwoon points at the bride, “so that I might one day kill you,” he points to the groom. “But I’ve found someone better to keep me company, so I’m afraid I’ll have to let this wedding go undisturbed. Maybe next time.”

Grabbing Yixing by the waist, he flaps his wings and leaves the castle behind.

“I’ve kidnapped you again,” Taekwoon says. “So I’m going to make you prisoner and force you to tend my garden.”

“Oh no.” Yixing laughs brightly, hands wrapped firmly, so warmly, around Taekwoon's neck. “I guess I’m stuck with you for a while.”


End file.
